One of the fundamental goals of Wushu is to enhance one's health. A set of Wushu exercises incorporates stillness and motion, requiring skill, stamina, determination, and spirit. The Beijing Physical Culture Institute did a comparative experiment on the cardiovascular response of a group of university students who regularly practiced Wushu and a group that did not. Each student was asked to do twenty squats in thirty seconds. The results are as follows:

Increases in Wushu practitioners:

More amazing is the therapeutic value of Taichi Chuan. This combination incorporates Wushu and the traditional breathing, and physical exercise it uses the mind and chi (bioelectricity) to lead movement, keeping the muscles as relaxed as possible. At the same time, the relaxed, controlled movement allows the blood to circulate freely without restriction from locked joints or tense muscles. Shanghai Medical University conducted a 17-month research study on patients with irregular blood pressure. The results showed that among the grou who, in addition to receiving medicinal treatment and practiced Taichi Chuan everyday, 43% experienced a significant drop to healthy levels in blood pressure, 83% also achieved a return to normal rates on the electrocardiogram. However among the group receiving only medicinal treatment, the respective figures were only 8% and 20%.

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